NCNGA Weekly Guardsman for February 4, 2021
February 4, 2021
News | About | Legislative | Benefits | Contact
IN THIS EDITION:
Save the Date, the 2021 Virtual Convention is taking shape! NCNGA
Help Your Association – Run for the NCNGA Executive Council NCNGA
Air Force Establishes Office of Diversity and Inclusion AF Mag
Discount at all Motel 6 and Studio 6 Extended Stay Locations in the US for The National Guard NCNGA
2021 EANGUS Scholarship Season NOW OPEN! EANGUS
NC officials seek improvements in COVID-19 vaccine process before expanding eligibility CBS 17
N.C. prison officials want to vaccinate inmates. But not all inmates want the vaccine. News & Record
National Guard troops in DC get surprise dog visit Yahoo News
February 4th — Today in Guard History National Guard
Save the Date, the 2021 Virtual Convention is taking shape! NCNGA
While we don’t have the full details we are putting together a great virtual conference that will include guest speakers along with doing the required business of the Association. This virtual event will be conducted live and streamed on the Association’s Facebook page. This will be a public Facebook event and you will not need to have a Facebook profile to participate. Put the 12th of March at 10:00 on your schedule so you can watch this great event. Keep an eye on the weekly update for more details.
Help Your Association – Run for the NCNGA Executive Council NCNGA
Help Your Association
Run for the NCNGA Executive Council!
The Nominating & Credentials Committee is actively seeking qualified candidates to run for Executive Council seats. Upcoming vacancies will be filled at the next convention to be held virtually in March of 2021.
Qualifications to run for office: you must be a member of the North Carolina National Guard Association and have served on an active committee within the past five years (except Junior Council Members) or on an active Sub-committee or workgroup.
If you are qualified (see above) and interested in being an important part of your Association, please complete the application below and email it or fax it to the NCNGA office, email info@ncnga.org, fax 919-859-4990. If you have any questions, please contact us by email or at 919-851-3390. Please return this form by the 26th of February.
Air Force Establishes Office of Diversity and Inclusion AF Mag
The Department of the Air Force on Jan. 11 officially stood up its Office of Diversity and Inclusion, according to a Feb. 2 release.
The office’s job is to cultivate an “equitable environment for all Department of the Air Force personnel” by finding and fixing “policies and procedures” that might have adverse impacts on underrepresented troops, and eliminating “barriers and other practices” that might impede their careers in the Air and Space Forces, according to the release.
The release also credited “the task force and Office of Diversity and Inclusion” for playing a role in the department’s crackdown on potentially offensive heraldry and honors and new disciplinary data tracking requirements.
Acting Senior Advisor on Diversity and Inclusion Tawanda R. Rooney—who formerly served as deputy director of the Secretary of the Air Force’s Concepts Development and Management Office—is leading the office, which is being staffed by a diverse “cross-functional team” of Air Force and Space Force personnel and civilians, according to the release.
Discount at all Motel 6 and Studio 6 Extended Stay Locations in the US for The National Guard NCNGA
G6 Hospitality, headquartered in Carrollton, Texas which manages 1,400 of the Studio 6 Extended Stay and Motel 6 properties in the U.S. is providing you with a rate that is lower than the Per Diem Rate. This special discount can be used for Business or Personal Travel.
TO MAKE RESERVATIONS AND RECEIVE THE 10% DISCOUNT:
Go to the link: https://www.motel6.com/content/g6/en/home/cp/national-guard.html
OR
Go to www.motel6.com and enter the Corporate Plus Code: CPZ2L9JA (Under your credit card information)
OR
Call General Reservations 855-445-3388 and give them the Corporate Plus Code: CPZ2L9JA
Whether it is for Business or for Personal travel, as a member of the National Guard, we hope you will enjoy taking advantage of the discount we now have in place for you at all Studio 6 Extended Stay and Motel 6 properties in the U.S.!
2021 EANGUS Scholarship Season NOW OPEN! EANGUS
Great educational opportunities for EANGUS members and their dependents! The EANGUS scholarship program offers the award of many full-tuition scholarships provided by our partner institutions, as well as our $2,000 CSM Virgil Williams Scholarships and $1,000 Patriot Scholarships funded by corporate and individual donations.
Our scholarship program is one of the primary benefits we offer to our members. Each year, we award multiple scholarships with a total value of over $500,000. Please see link below for Scholarships offered and how to apply.
Questions regarding the EANGUS Scholarship Program can be directed to the Committee Chair CMSgt Rosemarie Marston (Ret) and Vice-Chair SMSgt James Neill (Ret) at scholarship@eangus.org
Scholarship Information & Application
NC officials seek improvements in COVID-19 vaccine process before expanding eligibility CBS 17
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — As North Carolina officials worked to clear the backlog of COVID-19 vaccine doses, state lawmakers said they’ve seen improvements in the process but still want to ensure that issues are addressed as more people become eligible to receive the vaccine.
The state announced Monday that North Carolina had reached a milestone of 1 million doses being administered.
As of Monday, 1,061,308 doses of the vaccine have been given to people in North Carolina, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services. That includes doses being administered by North Carolina providers and doses being given through the federal government’s partnership with Walgreens and CVS to vaccinate people in long-term care facilities.
State data shows 100 percent of first doses that have gone to North Carolina providers actually have gone to into people’s arms.
Republican state legislators in recent weeks have raised concerns about the slow initial rollout and then the confusion created when some providers canceled appointments upon learning their allocations had been cut.
N.C. prison officials want to vaccinate inmates. But not all inmates want the vaccine. News & Record
RALEIGH — Hoping to halt COVID-19’s lethal march through North Carolina’s prisons, state officials say they will offer earlier releases and other incentives to inmates who agree to get vaccinated.
Their plan comes as the state Department of Public Safety is providing hundreds of inmates and prison employees their first shots. The state’s prisons are giving the vaccine to prison medical workers, staff members who work near infected inmates and employees and inmates 65 and older.
Since the voluntary vaccinations began on Jan. 20, about 1,800 of the roughly 29,000 inmates in the state prison system have been vaccinated. Also, about 2,800 of the state’s 14,000 prison employees — roughly one in five — have been vaccinated as well.
The shots come at a deadly time. According to prison officials, 42 inmates have died from COVID-19 — more than half of them in the past three months. At least seven staff members have also died.
More than 8,800 inmates have tested positive for the coronavirus so far — almost one of every four tested. More than 3,200 staff members have also tested positive, also about one in four. Of those, about 460 remain out of work.
North Carolina is one of at least 16 states now distributing vaccines to inmates, according to data compiled by the COVID Prison Project, a group of public health scientists tracking the spread of the respiratory disease in prisons and jails.
Under North Carolina’s new incentive program, inmates who are eligible to get both shots will receive sentence credits that will allow them to leave prison five days earlier.
Inmates who aren’t eligible for sentence credits will be provided a different incentive: a $5 credit for the purchase of snacks and other items from prison canteens.
All inmates who get vaccinated will also receive four extra visits from family members and friends, along with a free 10-minute phone call.
In the weeks ahead, when the vaccine is made available to younger people in the state, more inmates will also become eligible for the shots and incentives.
“We believe that we’ve put together a high-impact package that is going to support the health of our offender population, and also the health of our staff and their families,” said Todd Ishee, the commissioner of the state’s prisons.
National Guard troops in DC get surprise dog visit Yahoo News
A small contingent of National Guard troops remaining in Washington received a surprise visit from a dozen therapy dogs on Friday. They mingled with and pet the canine companions in the lobby of the Hamilton Hotel.
February 4th — Today in Guard History National Guard
1899
Manila, Luzon, Philippine Islands – Filipinos under the leadership of their general, Emilio Aguinaldo, launch a wave of attacks along American defensive positions outlying the city. The “Philippine Insurrection” has begun. When the U.S. entered the Spanish-American War in April 1898 over Cuban independence, little thought was given to Spain’s other overseas colonies. Among them was the Philippines, which the Americans seized with little effort or loss of life in July 1898. By early 1899, as the Americans granted independence to the newly freed Cubans, it was decided to annex the Philippines as a colony. But many of the local people also wanted their freedom from foreign control and rose to fight for it. The bulk of Army forces then serving in the islands were Guardsmen in units from: CA, CO, ID, IA, KS, MN, MT, NE, NV, ND, OR, PA, SD, TN, UT, WA, WY. While the war would last until 1903, the Guards’ role in it ended in autumn 1899 as the last of the volunteer units returned home. However, enough Guardsmen volunteered to stay on active duty that two regiments of infantry were organized. These remained in action until the Insurrection ended in 1901. Only one Guardsman received the Medal of Honor during the Spanish-American War, but 15 earned it during the Insurrection.
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